Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo both hinted at a Dunk Contest appearance next season.
The 2019 NBA Dunk Contest had its moments, most notably Hamidou Diallo‘s sky-high elbow dunk over NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, but for the most part it was quite lackluster. Utah Jazz fans were graced by the announcing presence of Donovan Mitchell, who joined the TNT crew for the event, but it would have obviously been preferable that he’d participated to defend his crown.
Fortunately, there’s already starting to be a lot of buzz about next year’s Dunk Contest potentially being a thriller. And a lot of that speculation started with a certain superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Following Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, which was largely a Dunk Contest in and of itself for the super-athletic Greek Freak, Giannis put out a simple tweet on Twitter, hinting at potentially participating in the event in 2020–
https://twitter.com/Giannis_An34/status/1097377575331155968
A quick perusal of the comments on his tweet will show you that overwhelmingly the reaction to his question is a huge thumbs up sign.
Giannis is one of the most prolific dunkers in the NBA and is currently battling Rudy Gobert for the most dunks in the season while chasing the record set by Dwight Howard back in 2008. He’s an amazing high-flyer that, as evidenced by his onslaught of dunks in the All-Star Game, could definitely put on an exhilarating show as a Dunk Contest participant.
And not only would it be thrilling to see Antetokounmpo in the big event, but if he does indeed join, Utah Jazz fans could be in for an even bigger treat. Namely, a repeat appearance by Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell responded to Giannis’ tweet with a simple message that if the Greek Freak was in, so was he–
https://twitter.com/spidadmitchell/status/1097378607876329477
A former Slam Dunk champion and a current MVP candidate battling it out in the Dunk Contest would be a joy to witness. Factor in that many are presuming that Diallo will be back to defend his title and that freak of nature Zion Williamson, the Duke athlete who’s the current projected number one overall pick in the draft for next season, will be selected as well, and we could be in for quite a treat.
Giannis, Spida, Diallo and Zion would put on an absolute show. Could all four players advance to the final round, giving us 16 total dunks, please?
Of course, the 2020 Dunk Contest is a long ways off, and a lot of this is speculation. Perhaps Giannis was mainly being facetious due to the nature of his awesome dunk in the All-Star Game. Maybe Donovan was messing around as well and who knows who the other contestants will ultimately be. There are dozens of factors and variables that could change things leading up to next year’s All-Star break.
Still, Donovan didn’t seem to be joking when he said if Giannis is in, so is he. For the sake of an entertaining All-Star Saturday night next year, let’s hope that both of them are in.